


Secrets Untold

by Daily_Scenarios



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Family Feels, Future Fic, Light Angst, M/M, talk about prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21973024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daily_Scenarios/pseuds/Daily_Scenarios
Summary: “Alright, have you found anything?” - he asked Abi. Annie was still busy going through the messy cupboard, but Abi got something in her little hands. It wasn't chocolate that much he could tell. She reached out to give it to Seb.“Maybe it's a bill.” - shrugged Annie as she looked at the letter in Seb's hands. Good thing she didn't see the writing, because she could read, and this letter was not some forgotten bill or trash. It was a letter to their Dad – Aaron – from Robert.Or...It was meant to be a fun game about finding their Daddy Robert's secret chocolate stash... but what if they found something else?
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Comments: 4
Kudos: 67





	Secrets Untold

He was home for the next couple of weeks. Exams haven't started yet, so he thought why not spend his free time with his mad family. He didn't realize that his dads still needed to go to work, and that left him babysitting his siblings all day. He didn't mind though. Seb loved all three of them. The twins were a handful, but not half as challenging as his youngest sister, Abi. She only turned two in the summer but she was always chatting. It reminded Seb of all the family holidays when his Dad – Robert – wouldn't shut up for hours and drove everybody crazy. It was before Abi's time, but the twins remembered it as well.

Aaron was in Liverpool of all places, picking up some scrap, and Robert went to the portacabin to sort out some paperwork, so he could spend the next few days with his family, catching up with his son without having to lift a finger. That's how Seb ended up looking after the kids, trying to keep the level of crazy to a bare minimum. He should've known that it was impossible.

“Seb! Seb! You said we're gonna go and find Daddy's secret chocolate stash!” - said Annie.

“Chocolate!!!!” - smiled Abi excited, already licking her lips. She was exactly like Robert, couldn't say no to sugar. Even if her dads tried not to give her much.

“Alright, alright. Why don't you two look at the cupboards?” - asked Seb turning to the girls. - “Oi Jacob, you wanna help them?”

“No, I wanna play with my tractor!” - he said. He was mesmerized by that toy Seb bought him. He got a present for everyone, and although his dads told him he shouldn't have to, he felt like he was always missing out, ever since he moved out, so he insisted. The girls got dolls – not identical because Seb knew how different their taste was – and Jacob got that tractor he was currently playing with.

“So you like it then?”

“I love it!” - he smiled as he looked at Seb for a whole second before he turned his attention back to his toy.

“Alright mate, I go and help the girls, you'll be alright here, yeah?” - he asked. Jacob just nodded absolutely not interested in any chocolate right now. - “Alright, have you found anything?” - he asked Abi. Annie was still busy going through the messy cupboard, but Abi got something in her little hands. It wasn't chocolate that much he could tell. She reached out to give it to Seb.

“Maybe it's a bill.” - shrugged Annie as she looked at the letter in Seb's hands. Good thing she didn't see the writing, because she could read, and this letter was not some forgotten bill or trash. It was a letter to their Dad – Aaron – from Robert.

“Yeah, yeah, it must be.” -told her Seb, as he put the letter in his pocket, deciding that maybe it was time to play something else. - “Ey, where did ya find it?” - he asked as he picked up Abi in his arms.

“Over there.” - she pointed to another shelf. As he got closer he saw a box with full of memories. A couple of photos, a coin, a piece of hair from his siblings' first haircut, just little things really. His dads were sentimental like that.

“Alright, I have a great idea.” - he said suddenly. - “How about we go over to Nana, then you guys can have an orange juice.”

“Can we have cake?” - asked Abi.

“No, we have to wait for our dads with the cake.” - he said not wanting to get into an argument.

“Can I bring my tractor?” - asked Jacob.

“Yeah, sure, go on get your shoes.”

“Okay.” - they shrugged. That was easy. Now all he had to do was bring his siblings over the pub, make up an excuse to leave them for a bit, so he can read that letter. It was too tempting to just leave it there. And just in case it's something the others shouldn't know about, he wanted to do it alone.

* * *

He hesitated before he opened it. It was obviously read before, so it wasn't something Aaron didn't know about. He wasn't sure if he should read it, but as he unfolded it properly, his eyes caught something.... his own name. He took a breath before he decided to read it after all.

* * *

“I'm home.” - called out Robert cheerfully as he closed the door behind him. - “Where's everybody?” - he asked before he saw Seb sitting on a sofa with something in his hand. - “Hey, you're alright? Where's the kids?”

“With Nana, they're fine.” - he said looking at his hands, that's when Robert saw the letter.

“What's that?” - he asked as he bent down to get it from him.

“You wrote this to Dad.... from inside.”

“How..how did you find this?” - asked Robert amused as he quickly scanned through the lines.

“Doesn't matter.” - he said shaking his head.

“It does, because this, this was safely put away.”

“Clearly not safe enough. Abi found it.”

“Abi...” - repeated Robert.

“Yeah, good job she gave it to me and not her sister or brother, ey?”

“Seb...”

“There's no... stamp... no nothing on this. How did you send this?”

“I didn't.” - said Robert sitting next to him.

“What? But... does Dad...”

“He knows, of course, he does. I wrote this... years ago, you were still a little boy.”

“So you don't mean it then? Is that what you're trying to say?” - asked Seb sniffing.

“Seb, those.... those were hard times, I just wanted the best...”

“For who?”

“For all of you!”

“Oh, so that's what _“forget me”_ means then.”

“Come on, that's not the whole sentence, did you even read it?”

“I did.”

“Then you know what I meant.”

“Why didn't you send it?”

“Because I was a coward.”

“You were. You divorced Dad.” - shot back Seb.

“We talked this through... me and him. After... after I got back.”

“What if he wouldn't have taken you back? Then I wouldn't have my siblings? Have you ever thought about how things could've turned out?”

“OF COURSE I HAVE! That's all I was thinking about for 8 years Sebastian!”

“Don't call me that, you know I hate it.”

“Then don't act like you don't know what was going on. We were always honest with you.” - said Robert before the door opened again.

“Hiya, why's me mum just texted me a pic with the kids stuffing their faces with chocolate?” - laughed Aaron, but his smile soon turned into a frown as he saw his son and husband on the couch, Seb close to tears. - “What's happened? Is he okay?” - he asked Robert.

“He found one of my letters.” - sighed Robert.

“One of your letters? So there's more? Brilliant.” - said Seb rolling his eyes.

“What? Would someone just tell me what's going on?” - asked Aaron getting impatient.

“Abi found this.” - said Seb pointing to the letter still in Robert's hands.

“Oh.” - that's all he could say.

“How could you get past this just like that.” - he said clicking his fingers.

“Come on mate, it wasn't like that.” - tried Aaron.

“Shall I tell you what it looks like?” - asked Seb – “It looks like he wanted nothing to do with us.” - he said and from that letter, without knowing anything about the circumstances, he might got that idea, yes. Robert hated himself for it.

“That's not true.” - said Aaron. - “Look, we told you how it was back then.”

“No, you told me a child-friendly version of what actually happened. I'm not a kid anymore!”

“You are... to us.” - said Aaron. Robert was still silent.

“Seb...” - said Robert finally – “I know it's a shock, to read that... but everything was a mess back then.”

“Come on mate, we got past that.” - told him Aaron.

“How? How did you get past that? He said he wanted you to have me, then he said we should all forget him.”

“You know I hate myself for that.” - sighed Robert not even looking at his son. - “But I knew you'd be safe with Aaron. And I knew you'd look after each other. And to know that you would have each other... that was the only thing that mattered to me then.”

“You know how your Dad can be...” - said Aaron with a soft smile as he patted Robert's shoulder. “He always tries to push people away. Especially people who love him very much. He never succeeds though.” - he said and Robert looked at him on the verge of crying. That's when Seb realized that his parents were through hell, but somehow they always found their way back to each other.

“Sorry.” - he whispered.

“About what?” - asked Robert as he cleared his throat.

“Bringing it all up again. It's just...”

“No, it's alright. We should've told you how bad it was. We didn't think.” - admitted Aaron.

“You would tell me if something like this happened now wouldn't you?” - he asked biting his lip.

“Seb, I love your Dad, there's no way he can get rid of me. Ever.” - laughed Aaron. Robert squeezed his hand, whispering a thank you before he turned to Seb.

“How about this, if you have questions, we can answer them. And not with the child-friendly version.” - offered Robert.

“Really?”

“Yeah, if you want.”

“Okay. Not now though, I left the kids with Nana, because I didn't want them...” - he trailed off

“That's okay. You're the best big brother they could ever hoped for.” - said Robert. That put a smile on Seb's face.

“How about we all go over, have a pint, and have some fun?” - asked Aaron.

“Okay, you're buying.” - said Seb looking at Robert.

“Alright, deal.” - he smiled. Maybe it was a good thing Seb found that letter. He wanted him to know that those were complicated times and that he's seeing it different now. He thought there was no other way out, but now he knows he was wrong. He knew they still had to talk about all of this, but maybe it was enough for now.

“Oi,” - whispered Aaron just before they left the Mill. Robert looked at him with a sad smile. - “I love you, you know that right?”

“I know. I love you too. We have to sit down with him...”

“Yeah, I know. We figure it out. Try to enjoy today, okay?”

“Yeah, you're right.” - he said giving him a quick peck on the lips.


End file.
